Michael Lewis’ eight wishes for Wall Street

Michael Lewis’ eight wishes for Wall Street

The author of Blind Side and Moneyball comes up with a very interesting list of wishes for Wall Street. He might be on to something.

Of all the changes, the best has to be Lewis’ suggestion that no one under the age of 35 be allowed to work on Wall Street. Young people, no matter how bright will be required to work in the real economy doing real jobs that might not pay a whole lot but involves more than just shuffling paper.

He’s not suggesting that Wall Street’s necessarily a bad place mind you, just that a little worldly experience would be a good thing for newly minted MBAs.

As part of his rant he suggests that no one should work on Wall Street who’s really clever because it’s these people who are especially prone to breaking rules, rules that are meant to protect us.

Recently, WPs given a lot of face time to women working in the financial services industry. Lewis suggests that only women be allowed to trade on Wall Street because they are less prone to financial risk-taking and overconfidence.

Unfortunately, to accomplish his first three wishes for Wall Street, it’s going to be incredibly hard to find enough women that fit the bill: older than 35 and not especially bright.

The remaining five wishes revolve around regulation and the financial system itself. Lewis believes Wall Street is far too complicated and should be dumbed down to accommodate the Kardashian’s of the world.

He’s got a point.

Often the most successful endeavours are the simplest. Not convinced? Try reading the entire Tim Hortons/Burger King merger document without getting totally confused. Unless you’re one of those really bright people Lewis wants banned, you won’t be able to.

Clearly, his eight wishes are said tongue firmly planted in cheek. However, there’s an ounce of truth even if they are just meant as seasonal fun.